SF 49ers: Exploring 4 options team has for Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: SF 49ers simply retain Jimmy Garoppolo into 2021
Sometimes, the easiest explanation winds up being the best possibility.
Jimmy Garoppolo might not be an elite quarterback. But he’s had success in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. And there are probably between 10 to 15 teams out there who’d prefer to have Garoppolo under center than their current options.
For starters, Shanahan and John Lynch have to understand Garoppolo wasn’t exactly dealt the best hand this offseason. San Francisco’s offensive line has struggled in pass protection, the ground game has been inconsistent with the majority of running backs winding up injured in one way or another, there’s been a wide receiver shortage, tight end George Kittle has been out of the lineup for all but six of 10 games so far and so on.
Garoppolo has also dealt with his ankle injury, suffered back in Week 2 against the NY Jets and a similar setback against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8 that landed him on injured reserve.
Few quarterbacks would have success overcoming all those obstacles.
Plus, moving on from Garoppolo would open up the proverbial Pandora’s box of possibilities: not being able to trade for a suitable replacement, relying on a merely so-so bridge quarterback and potentially missing on a top quarterbacking prospect in the NFL Draft.
Yet the SF 49ers could still explore the final option there while keeping Garoppolo around.